Ricoh Taps PepperCom for Corporate Branding

Ricoh Corporation is a household name in its native Japan, but has a low profile here in the United States, an issue the company plans to address following its selection this week of PepperCom as its agency of record.

NEW YORK, April 22—Ricoh Corporation is a household name in its native Japan, but has a low profile here in the United States, an issue the company plans to address following its selection this week of PepperCom as its new public relations agency of record. PepperCom won out over Access Communications, Coyne PR, and Fitzgerald Communications for the account, which is worth more than $200,000 annually. Ruder Finn had been Ricoh’s agency of record.

PepperCom’s responsibilities will include a wide range of strategic programs intended to underscore Ricoh’s positioning in the United States, according to Russell Marchetta, the company’s public relations manager of Ricoh, who said the firm was chosen for “its enthusiasm, knowledge of the industry and creative ideas.”

Ricoh, which markets products under the Savin and Lanier brands, recently surpassed Xerox to become the second largest marketer of digital and analog copiers in the U.S., behind Canon. But the company has historically had a lower media profile than either of its main competitors, in part because it does not market products directly to consumers.

“Our focus is on the business-to-business customer and so we don’t have the name recognition from a consumer standpoint,” says Marchetta. “But in the business-to-business world, people who have our products love our products.”

Marchetta says the company has had strong coverage in the vertical trades, and that PepperCom will be focused on securing more attention from the mainstream business media. “We have gotten to the point that when there is an article about a competitor in The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, we are included,” says Marchetta. “But more and more we are looking for more mainstream business coverage of the company’s success story.”

According to PepperCom managing partner Steven Cody, “This is obviously a huge win for us and underscores our ability to attract top multinational corporations. Alongside GE and Steelcase, Ricoh will be one of our most important clients.”

This is the second big win in the space of a month for PepperCom, which recently added the ITT industries account.

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